Time passed. Raven and Van grew to have a routine that included vomiting in the morning; seemingly never ending nappy changes and clothes washing; Van watching tv with Kouryo while Raven has psych or doctor sessions in his room; and Fiona cooking. Fiona was cooking for them because Van Should Not cook, and Raven seemed to vomit at the mear mention of anything containing more than water and salt. Or carob covered ginger. He was living on that. (Van wasn't sure it was actually helping, but then with the way Moonbay had laughed about morning sickness lasting 24/7, perhaps it was.)
Raven still looked far underweight, but wasn't quite skeletal like before. Dr. D had advised they both practice katas together so that Raven's muscles could rebuild after the months of being virtually unused, so mornings and evenings that was also part of the new routine.
Raven had been very frustrated at first. He had been one of the top fighters prior to this... experiment, and now he was only beginning to make it though the katas withought breaking out in a sweat and loosing his breath. And Van was so... irritating with his attempts to encourage him.
"It's alright," Van smirked down at him while Raven lay spead out on the loungeroom floor, panting hevily. "You're getting better. Soon you'll be back to your old... well, FORMER self."
Raven groaned and covered his eyes with one arm, visulising how he wanted to be able to really spar with Van and kick his arse! Van laughed with good nature and flopped down to sit by Raven's side. "Argh, I HATE this!" Raven ground out.
"I know." Van said quietly, looking away and no longer smiling.
"I'm actually surprised you are letting me get my strength back."
Van turned his eyes back, one brow raised in question.
"I could escape once I'm strong enough."
Van smiled slightly. "But you wont."
It was now Raven's turn to raise a brow in question. "Oh?"
"Where would you go?"
Raven closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"Dr. D. told me about the offer, and how you don't believe him."
"Stupid doctor. What happened to confidentiality?"
"This has nothing to do with your medical stuff. I want to let you know that it wasn't just him offering. If you wanted to. Stay, I mean. I mean, half the force were considered enemies at one point of another."
Raven snorted. "And that doesn't bother you? You're far too trusting, Van."
"I choose to believe in people." Van retorted. "I do believe that I have been proven right with them too."
Raven fell quiet, lifting his eyes to meet Van's, who had a strange and intense look in his own that Raven didn't know what to think of. "My experience has taught me other wise." He said seriously before turning his head away and rolling to his feet, leaving Van sitting there while he padded across to Kouryo's room and crib, to gaze down at the sleeping baby.
More time passed. But not too much more.
Irvine stepped up to the table, watching Van nurse his mug between his knees, staring down into it's depths as though it held all the answers to the world there. Irvine threw his leg over a chair beside Van, waiting. Van looked up slightly.
"Hey," Van said in greeting with barely a smile before ducking his head again.
"Hey," Irvine replied, then leaned in to look into the still half full mug. "What's going on? I haven't seen you look so down since, well, ever."
Van's shoulders slumped further and his head stayed bowed. "I did something stupid." He said.
"Okay..." Irvine drew out. "What was this stupid thing you did?"
Van took a swig and mumbled into his mug.
"What was that?" Irvine leaned in, prodding Van's arm.
Van swallowed, hung his head again, and mumbled lowly.
"I still can't hear you."
Van's head shot up. "I KISSED HIM!" Then he blushed hevily, eyes wide, and looked around to see who was listening. Thankfully the base music playing was loud and the people around were minimal. No one was listening.
"What?" Irvine blinked. "Who?"
Van sighed, looking back down to his drink. "Raven."
Irvine's eyes widened, then he doubled over with laughter.
"It's not funny!"Van protested, which made Irvine laugh even harder. "Irvine!"
Irvine choked back his giggles and wiped a tear from his eye. "Aw, come on Van. It can't have been that bad, right? You're still alive and in one piece... I presume?"
Van nodded. "I know, but... you should have seen his face. He went... all blank and white, then grabbed Kouryo and baracaded them in the kid's room."
"And you're out here in the pub instead of trying to get him out because?"
Van sighed. "I tried. He refused to talk to me. I tried to explain that it was an accident, that it didn't have to mean anything, but nothing I said worked."
"Uh-huh." Movement from across the street caught Irvine's eyes and he looked past Van's head to watch as someone climbed down the drain pipe in the ally beside the building Van was now having to live in. "Again, why are you down here and not up there? He's supposed to be in custody, right?"
"Yeah," Van nodded. "Thomas is watching him. I just needed to get out for a bit and think."
Irvine watched the person slip down the last few meters, landing badly and falling on their backside. Slowly, the familiar person climbed to their feet and staggered against the wall of the appartment block. "Uh-huh." Irvine said again, then pointed. "So then that won't be him out there now?"
Van span on his chair to watch Raven, clutching a bundle to his chest with one arm, the other bracing his stomach as he staggered out of the allyway with his shoulder against the wall, and out onto the footpath where he slammed against the next building, doubled over, then fell to his knees, curling into a ball. Passer-by's all stopped and stared. Van ran across the streed and pushed through the small croud before he knew it.
"What the hell's going on here?" Van demanded of Raven as the dark haired young man scrambled away from him, kicking out weakly.
"Leave me alone." Raven rasped through clenched teeth before curling up again with a loud moan. Kouryo started wailing from the sling Raven was wearing.
Van crouched beside Raven, frowning at how pale he was and how fast he was panting. "Shit, Raven." He breathed, "I didn't think you were so upset with me that you'd risk killing Kouryo as well."
Raven turned glassy, dilated eyes upon Van. "Prozen." He said simply before his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious, Van managed to catch some of his weight before he fell on Kouryo.
"Van!" Irvine called out, pointing to the blood that was pooling under Raven's hips, and coating the hands pressed to his belly.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Van rolled his former nemisis into his arms and heaved to his feet. "Call the medics!"
"I'm on it!' Irvine was already on his phone and running along side Van to his zoid that was parked down the road.
"Zeke!" Van yelled to his organoid. "Start her up! We've got an emergency here!"
Zeke growled his reply and the zoid came to life, hatches opening and making the way easy for Van and his bundle to enter.
Irvine jumped in behind them, still with the phone to his ear. "Hospital knows we're coming. Thomas isn't answering. I saw glass all over the ground."
The zoid lurched to it's feet and was off and running to the hospital. Van grit his teeth as he felt warm wetness leaking over his thigh where Raven's body connected with his. Kouryo had stopped crying at the sight of Van, but was still hicupping. Raven was a dead weight in his arms.
"Van," Irvine continued. "Those windows were supposed to be bullet proof. Only high callibre rounds can crack them."
"I know."
"Medics and evac are also going to check the place out."
"Keep trying to contact Thomas. There's a chance he's... still alive. Raven said Prozen before. There's no way Prozen can get his hands back on either him or Kouryo." Van squeezed Raven tighter, surprised at his own... possessiveness over his two charges. It was only when Raven made a small whimper of pain that Van relaxed his hold slightly. But only slightly.
"If that's true, then how the hell did Prozen find out he was here? He's getting bold to attack the inner cities in broad daylight."
"Remember who you're talking about here?"
"Yeah. Good point."
Raven slowly opened his eyes to sunlight streaming in through the window and birds chirping, and wondered where he was. He had vague recollections of faces, gun powder, terror and pain, but now? He went to roll onto his back and found himself propped onto his side by pillows. Shifting his arm found an IV in the back of his hand connected to an emptying bag of blood on the stand at the end of the bed. Not really finding any reason to change this, he just stared at the bag of blood and watched it drip into the line. A few moments later a nurse came into check it and him.
"Oh, hello!" said the chirpy thing that Raven just blinked at. "I'm Cass, your nurse. How are you feeling?" She started taking his blood pressure.
Raven blinked. "...Fine." He rasped as he watched her. "What's going on?"
"You're out of sugery. How's your pain?"
"Surgery?" Raven echoed. "What surgery?"
Cass examined the hand that had the IV in it, then looked over the bag of blood, and (to his horror) the drainage bags for his catheter and wound, although the wound one was a bit beyond his comprehension at that time. After that Cass picked up the data pad with his file on it. "Abdominal surgery." She replied, and his eyes widened with panic. "I can't tell you all the details. Would you like me to get the doctor?"
Raven nodded shakily, and Cass pressed the call button beside the bed before making sure he knew about the remote button and lay it on the bed next to his hand. "Okay. A doctor should be in soon. Now, are you feeling at all nauseous? No? Okay, now I'm just going to check..."
She went on to examine his body and even the bandaged incision site low on his abdomen, recording everything in the data pad as she went. By the time she finished, there was a knock on a door, and Raven only just realised he ws behind a curtain and the door was on the other side.
"Come in!" Cass chirped and left the curtain to talk in low voices with the doctor. Raven watched their legs on the other side of the curtain, the nurse leaving the room before the doctor pulled the curtain open and waved brightly.
"Hello again, Raven!" Dr. D. grinned down at him.
Raven sighed loudly.
"Good news, the surgery was a success. The bullet missed all your vital organs and arteries, and what it did hit we were able to repair."
Raven blinked up stupidly. "Bullet?" then he remembered everything and lurched with panic. "Where's Kouryo?"
Dr. D waved his hands in a peaceful manner. "He's safe. He's with Van." Raven wasn't sure about how 'safe' Van was anymore. Dr. D then grew serious, which almost allarmed Raven in it's self. "There's one thing that needs to be said though." The doctor sat on the chair beside the bed. "During the surgery it was necessary to remove a... growth that was discovered." Raven's eyes went wide as he understood what the Dr was reffering to.
"Really?"
Dr. D nodded slowly.
"Oh thank God." Raven flopped back against his pillow. But Dr. D was still being very serious. "What is it?"
"Raven... that growth... it ws completely organic, and made from your own cells, even though it was not in your genetic make up. None of the documentation we managed to get from Prozen covers how that is possible, except it was there before the scientists got their hands on you. Do you... I don't know. Are you able to shed any light on this?"
Raven closed his eyes, trying not to remember the agony and terror he had gone through. "I think... it was Shadow." He said quietly. "I don't know specifics, but I'll never forget... him... cutting..." Raven covered his face with one hand. "He held me still inside him and cut into me! I couldn't do anything except scream and hope that I would die."
Dr. D said nothing, just held out a box of tissues, which Raven took from using his other hand, but just crushed it in his grasp.
"It was high pitch, the saws. I could hear them from inside me. And Prozen." Raven spat his name. "I could hear him laughing."
[Reviews - 0] [Kudos - 119]
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents